NOAA scientists are among the world’s
“most influential” as far as scientific citations go,
according to an international scientific database. Researchers cite,
or refer to, published work of others in their field, and how often
an author is cited provides a measure of the impact of the author’s
work in that field. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

ISI Thompson Scientific’s “The World’s
Most Influential Researchers” lists 10 NOAA scientists among
the 248 most-cited authors in the world over the past two decades
in the geosciences category. Seven of the scientists are from NOAA’s
Aeronomy Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., two are from NOAA’s
Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.,
and one is from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville,
N.C.

“NOAA
is fortunate to have some of the best scientists in the world and
this shows that the scientific community agrees,” said retired
Navy Vice Admiral Conrad
C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans
and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The presence of 10
NOAA researchers on such a list underscores the high impact of NOAA’s
research and NOAA’s scientists.”

NOAA’s “Most Influential” are:
David Fahey, Fred Fehsenfeld, Ken Kelly, David Parrish, Michael
Proffitt, Susan Solomon and Adrian Tuck, all of the NOAA Aeronomy
Laboratory; David Hofmann and Pieter Tans of the NOAA Climate Monitoring
and Diagnostics Laboratory; and Tom Karl of the NOAA National Climatic
Data Center.

“We are
immensely proud of the individuals and also pleased that there are
so many on this list,” said Richard
D. Rosen, assistant administrator of NOAA’s Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. “When you consider that
all research institutions worldwide were sampled, having this many
achieve such prominence is quite impressive. This achievement also
speaks to the high quality of NOAA management for providing the
environment in which these scientists can flourish.”

The researchers on the list are considered by their
peers to have performed significant, trend-setting research in a
subject. Solomon, for example, achieved recognition for her work
helping to explain the nature of the stratospheric ozone hole. Karl
is considered one of the world’s experts on climate change.

ISI Thompson provides web-based information to more
than seven million researchers, information specialists, and administrators
in diverse fields. To obtain this web-based information, please
visit: http://isihighlycited.com

The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
is dedicated to enhancing economic security and the nation’s
welfare through research to better understand weather and climate-related
events and to manage wisely our nation's coastal and marine resources.